Motion Sensing

Sensics is showing off its new Android-based 3D SmartGoggles at CES, and we've tried it out. The 3D head-tracking, eye-tracking, "don't I look like a space marine" headset is designed to give a total immersion experience in connected devices, playing with an external controller or the sensors built into the device itself. The screens, sensors and other electronics are all housed in the front unit, with a pair of headphones covering your ears and a large brace arcing over your head.

The Microsoft Kinect for the Xbox 360 has found itself being used for all sorts of things outside of gaming on the Xbox 360 console. That has led other firms to try to get in on the motion control action using their own motion control systems and so far no one has managed to be successful. Asus is trying its hand at motion control for the PC with the WAVI Xtion that was first shown off back in January.

Over two years ago, an interesting instrument of sorts jumped on our radar called the Airpiano. At the time it was an interesting concept by Omer Yosher presented at the Berlin Design Festival that allowed you to play music just by moving your hands around in the air over a motion-sensing board. Now, the concept has finally become a commercial reality, with the first limited trial batch ready for order and newer video demos after the cut.

Tobii grabbed headlines back in March with their eye-controlled laptop, using a sensor bar under the display to track eye movement and map it to the mouse cursor. Now the company has a version designed for those people who already have a monitor they're happy with, the Tobii PCEye, hooked up with a simple USB cable.

Kinect-style motion recognition on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones could arrive sooner - and cheaper - than expected, with software developers Crunchfish coming up with a system that can track 3D movements with a single front-facing camera. Working even in low-light conditions, the Crunchfish tech can track individual finger movement, together with click, drag and scroll without any contact with the device itself.

The boys at MacRumors have uncovered a new Apple patent application. This one covers a physical keyboard with motion sensing cameras built into the frame. The idea is to merge the keyboard and mouse into one device. There would be both a "typing" and a "mouse" mode, toggled through a key or key combo.

PrimeSense, the motion-tracking company behind Microsoft's Kinect and ASUS' WAVI Xtion is obviously doing something right, as the company has just secured a new round of funding. The exact nature of the deal hasn't been disclosed, but when we talked to PrimeSense the company confirmed it was "extremely focused" on the "living room experience - browsing your media centre on your television."

For Microsoft, who believe that the Xbox 360 still has plenty of years left in it, the Kinect motion-sensing peripheral that's due to release November 4th is a huge effort to get even more people involved with the console. Not wanting to just talk to hardcore gamers anymore, the peripheral is meant to bring the whole family into the living room, and sit around a nice game of Kinectimals. According to the New York Times, it cost Microsoft quite a pretty penny to get the first working prototype of the Kinect unit up and running.

Now that we know the 17 Kinect-capable titles heading to the controller-free peripheral in 2010, and we know just how to set up our living rooms to get the best playing experience, it's time that we finally get our eyes on an official TV advertisement from Microsoft. While there's been other commercials out there, apparently they weren't the "official" kind. But, Microsoft has finally unveiled the first official TV ad for Kinect, showcasing the human side of it.

There's no doubt that setting up to play Microsoft's upcoming motion sensing peripheral, Kinect, will be interesting. Microsoft has released a video that showcases the Kinect development team going over what they believe is the optimal setting and layout for you to truly experience, and enjoy your time with Kinect. And who better to get the information from then those who developed the system, right?

When a company is launching a new product, especially a major one that they hope will be a smash hit, it's perfectly normal to see employees --especially the higher-ups-- start talking up sales, figures, and expectations. Sure, you can see exceptions to the rules some times, like when Sony Computer Entertainment's Vice President said that Move wouldn't have huge day ones sales (which, for the record, is today), it's usually more like what Kudo Tsunoda said in a recent interview with Gamasutra.

Microsoft's motion-sensing peripheral, Kinect, is one of two major peripheral releases coming from two major companies in the video game industry. However, unlike its main competition (in the sense that they are releasing roughly at the same time), Microsoft's version doesn't use a controller that you hold in your hand to represent actions on the screen. No, in Microsoft's case, you are the controller. And since that became known, there's been plenty of people wondering several different things: can you play it sitting down? And, probably the loudest to date: how many players can play at the same time?